How to Make Homemade Energy Drinks

Introduction: How to Make Homemade Energy Drinks

About: Made in Canada, I grew up crafting, making, and baking. Out of this love for designing and creating, I pursued a BFA in product design from Parsons School of Design in NYC. Since then I've done work for Mart...More About Paige Russell »

I started out with the intention of coming up with a recipe for a homemade version of the store bought energy drinks you can find everywhere these days! After doing some research and discovering how unhealthy they are for you, I decided instead to try and design a less sugar/caffeine fueled way to help myself through the workday afternoon sleepy slump.

What I landed on was a system of three energy drinks and some energy boosting ideas that are going a long way to helping me keep my energy up all day long! Here are the energy drink recipes:

The Fire Hydrant (left) - 3-4 8oz glasses throughout the day

Ingredients:

Filtered water

1 slice lemon

1 pinch cayenne pepper

Other than getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, staying hydrated is the most important thing you can do to help keep your body functioning at optimum levels. This drink is just water with a squeezed lemon slice and a pinch of cayenne pepper. The lemon not only tastes good, but it also has an alkaline forming effect on your body's system which can help your body maintain a healthy pH level*. The cayenne pepper helps raise energy levels naturally and provides protection for your heart by helping to maintain proper cardiovascular movement throughout the body. Combining this drink with 4-5 glasses of regular water will bring you up to your recommended 8 glasses of water per day!

*For an explanation of how lemon juice becomes alkaline forming in the body and how it can contribute to wellness, read this awesomely clear article. Lemons are number two on this doctor's list of foods that have a moderate to strong alkaline-forming effect on the body, right after watermelon! (Another delicious thing to drink!)

The Quick Fix (center) - as needed, during the day(I don't recommend drinking it at night as it might keep you up)

Ingredients:

Hot water to fill your favorite mug

1 1/2 - 2 tsp honey (to taste)

1 inch of fresh ginger root

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp tumeric

Cut off two thin slices of ginger and place in your cup or mug.Use a garlic press to juice the remaining ginger into your mug.Add both spices and fill your mug with hot water and stir.

This is the closest thing I found to a non-caffeine/refined sugar pick me up! And I find it pretty delicious. Ginger speeds up metabolism and increases circulation. It also aids in the digestive process which can help stave off the post lunch coma that contributes to the afternoon slump. Turmeric, a cousin of ginger, also helps speed things up in the body, including energy levels! And Cardamom has long been valued medicinally for its ability to increase circulation and improve energy. Honey is mother nature's equivalent of an energy shot and is one of the best kinds of sugars for your body.

The Heavy Lifter (right) - 1 glass in the morning

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup raw almonds or 2 tbsp almond butter

1 scoop of high quality whey protein powder (low sugar content)

2 washed kale leaves

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 cup milk of choice (I used unsweetened almond milk)

According to Dr. Oz, 60% of women don't get enough protein in their diets and that is often the number one reason for fatigue! (http://www.doctoroz.com/media/print/11196) A morning protein shake is a really easy and delicious way to make sure that you're starting the day off well fueled. Pair this with a piece of whole grain toast and you have everything you need to give you a solid energy foundation for the day.

The next steps in this instructable are energy boosting tips I use along with my homemade energy drink to get through the day!

Step 1: Energy Booster #2: Move It, Move It!

If your body is feeling sluggish in the afternoon after sitting in front of the computer all day, get moving! Get up and go for a quick walk. Whether it's just around your building or outside in the fresh air (preferred), getting your blood flowing will do wonders to combat fatigue and increase mental clarity.

So you don't feel bad doing this, here's a fun fact: taking a break from work every hour for a few minutes will also increase your productivity. "If you take short breaks throughout the day, you will have more overall accomplishments," says Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus.

If a deadline crunch doesn't allow time for even a quick walk, stand up, raise your arms above your head and have a BIG stretch. Then shake your whole body on the spot for a few seconds before sitting back down and recommencing the crunch.

Step 2: Energy Booster #3: Color Me Happy!

Surround yourself with energetic colors! According to color specialists, orange is the most energy inducing color. But like art, color is subjective so I'd suggest finding the color that is most energizing to you. Add accents of that color to your work environment to help you stay 'up' all day long.

Here are some color accent suggestions:

Flowers

Colorful office supplies

Bright and inspiring desktop wallpapers

Framed typography prints

Step 3: Energy Booster #4: the Scent of Citrus

I find the smell of citrus super invigorating, so something I've been trying is keeping an orange next to my computer on a little tray. I use a toothpick to poke through the skin and release a good dose of its natural clarifying scent anytime I need a mind or body boost. Just make sure you remove the toothpick before you lean in to huff so you don't accidentally stab your nose!

*aromatherapy oils would also work. I chose to use the orange because it's also orange! Two birds, one stone. : )

I know it's hard to find time to add even the simplest to-dos to an already busy schedule, but I encourage you to try! I have no doubt that you will notice a positive difference to your sense of overall wellbeing that will go a long way to beating the afternoon slump!

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151 Discussions

Nice recipes - I will definitely try #2 and #3. Good old water with lemon works OK for basic hydration, occasionally some lime or sugar-free lemonade at about 1/2 recommended concentration.

But I wanted to remark on your "desk organizer" -- I use virtually the same thing! I find that a long rubber band around the brush about 1/3 of the way from the top prevents droopiness or outright escape of key implements. I find the ones referenced below great for this and so many things:

Thank you for the Energy Drinks Recipes. I will definitely start doing all 3 in a few weeks when I get my next SS check [funds too low right now to buy any of the things other than the lemons!]. My energy-stamina is essentially non-existent; [due to multiple self-induced and several chronic health factors] and I am too tired to do much about it. So these drink recipes, as a start; which are very easy; give me hope that I can do something for myself to get started. I will let you know how I am progressing in a month or two,

When you're sick sometimes you just need something that tastes good and doesn't hurt when you eat it. After a major abdominal surgery I couldn't face food and then I got my wife to buy some ready made rice pudding off the shelf at Safeway. It went down well and gave me some energy to continue on. Try not to be too critical. Try to see what possible good something is. Water could drown you but without it you're going to die.

Sorry but there are only a couple hundred different cold virus strains. once you've had most strains via "experience" (you're age!) you won't get them again. This is why you get less colds as you get older! Not these concoctions. Of course if you enjoy them they can be part of a healthy diet. Enjoy them1

hey guys! I badly need ur help :( i use this homemade energy drink as my thesis subject and then i need to do an introduction, hypothesis, scope and limitation, and statement of the problem. Can you please help me? I badly need your help for my thesis.

My God, millennials these days... always looking for free handouts on silver platters for the work they should be doing, along with their "participation" ego awards for last place. A thesis is not supposed to be easy or a walk through the park. If it is, then you have chosen the wrong subject as your thesis. It is meant to be something for intricate research, development, theory, and hard work.

PSA: The alkaline diet thing is a total myth. It would be nice to think that we could heal ourselves by drinking or eating foods that affect our pH, but the fact is that even a tiny shift in the body's pH would kill us immediately. People sometimes claim that the change in the pH of their urine is proof of the efficacy of such diets, but in fact it's just proving that the kidneys are doing their job -- making sure your body pH stays the same no matter what you eat. If you did shift your body's pH, it would change the way that proteins are "folded" in the body -- the way they gain the 3-dimensional structure that allows them to function properly. By all means, if you enjoy the drinks that Ms. Russell has given instruction for here, go to town -- I find that ginger is excellent for an upset stomach. But please do not think that pH values of your food/beverage will have /any/ impact on your health... and PLEASE do not spend any money on the ludicrous pH water/food market. Send it to me instead, I'll put it to good use ;-)